Governor Fashola builds first suspension bridge in Nigeria

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola has finished building the first suspension bridge in Nigeria, making it another landmark in the history of the Federation.

According to reports, the 1.358km bridge, which will link Ikoyi (Alexander Street) to Lekki (Admiralty Way), cost about N29 billion and toll would be collected to recover the money expended on the project. Lagos State Government led by the Governor had awarded the construction of the bridge to Julius Berger.

Julius Berger Nigeria Plc began the construction of the bridge in October, 2008. The total length of the main bridge is 466m. The length of Cable Bridge is 170m (the suspended section), the height of Pyron is 87m from water level navigational requirement while the clearance average 9m above high water level. The width of the bridge (carriageway) is 8m by 2; walkway of the bridge, 2.0m by 2; road works at Ikoyi End is 338.7m, while the road works at the Lekki End is 311.5m.

The new bridge that will soon be formally commissioned by Governor Babatunde Fashola is expected to decongest traffic in Lekki area of Lagos and will become a cynosure of all eyes because it was aesthetically and architecturally built.